BENGUET General Hospital (BeGH) received on Friday, February 19, license to operate its molecular laboratory from the Department of Health-Health Facilities and Services Regulatory Bureau (DOH-HFSRB).
The molecular laboratory, established through the initiative of Benguet legislative caretaker and ACT-CIS party list Representative Eric Go Yap, seeks to boost the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) testing capacity of Benguet province.
BGHMC was declared as one of the sub-national testing laboratories for Luzon, catering to Cordillera, Ilocos and Cagayan Valley in 2020 following the outbreak of Covid-19.
"Finally, our prayers were answered! The much awaited accreditation of the BeGH Molecular Laboratory has been approved," Yap said in a statement.
The facility was personally funded by Yap who, earlier, vowed to help in improving the testing capacity of the local health facility and ensure that frontliners and the people of Benguet will be tested for Covid-19.
Yap said they have been very patient throughout the whole process of accreditation which took a while.
He added this is one huge step toward their goal of curbing the pandemic that totally brought people and economy in shambles.
"We can now take a more aggressive approach in dealing with the Covid-19 through massive testing in Benguet and in nearby provinces," added Yap.
Aside from funding the facility, Yap also shelled out more than P5 million for the purchase of RT-PCR and automated extraction machines and donated these to the BeGH.
With the approval of the molecular lab, Yap said he will facilitate enough support in terms of logistics, testing kits, and consumables.
"We will also shift our focus in securing vaccines for our people. We did not lose our patience and hope then, we are not about to start losing it now and I will firmly stand behind this drive to achieve a Covid-free Benguet. Our donations were not wasted and it pales in comparison to the emotions that we have right now seeing this facility approved for testing," he said. (SunStar Baguio)